Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Lacoste
In this post, we will talk about another brand that has a unique and wide product range. Are we not all familiar with the green crocodile logo? Well, that belongs to Lacoste, a French brand that was established in 1933. During these past times, people have taken the habit of being more physically active. Thus, they have started purchasing from sportswear brands a lot more often. That gives off a slight hint at the success of Lacoste. But there is much more information that we can dive into to unravel more of this company’s story. So, let’s begin.
First off, we are going to discuss the mission and vision statements of Lacoste.
The mission statement of the company is as follows.
“Our mission is to make LACOSTE a unique casual luxury brand embodying elegance such as Frenchness. This requires a high level of quality and professionalism within areas such creation, style, manufacturing and retail.
LACOSTE products and employees make clients live a unique experience regardless of the distribution network, physical or digital, everywhere in the world.”
It is common knowledge that France is known for being the ultimate fashion location in the whole world. The company has managed to take advantage of that. What is important is to utilize smart methods with everything that a company owns. Lacoste wants to provide its customers with the best French fashion experience. Maintaining it, of course, requires some effort. Among those measures are innovation, fashion, manufacturing, and retail.
It does not matter where the consumers of Lacoste are shopping, because their experience has to be amazing. Even if they purchase a piece or two from their couch at home, everything is simple, easy, and convenient.
Lacoste has a good distribution network, and of course, a website where people can purchase their desired items.
Now, on to the vision statement of Lacoste.
“One Brand, One Team, One Voice, for a controlled growth based on operational excellence, customer satisfaction and talent development.”
For any company, continuous growth is a primary goal. Lacoste is no different. This brand wishes to extend its brand with united efforts. It hopes to develop the company with the help of staff members, consumers, and overall awesomeness.
The first step is staff members giving their all to the company. Every person has a unique power and gift to contribute to a bigger organization with their ideas. Hence why Lacoste considers all of its employees equally significant.
The second step is customer happiness. If the first step is achieved successfully, then customers will be relieved. Loyal customers will appear in the picture, which is an incredible accomplishment in the long run.
And the ultimate step is talent development. That is necessary for regular innovations, so the company keeps alive and maintains its success.
Now, we are going to explore the archetype that Lacoste belongs to.
To do so, let’s have a loot at one of their Instagram posts.
Christmas is here, so this post is one of Lacoste’s celebrations for it. The photo is pretty self-explanatory. We see a woman next to two wrapped presents and skies. Her outfit is all-Lacoste. The caption is where we can observe the creativity of this post.
On Christmas, presents are the items that people wrap. This woman’s silhouette is wrapped in this post, and it is done with grace. She is wearing a blush pink sweatsuit, over which we see her bright blue jacket. She has finished off her outfit with a pair of white Lacoste sneakers and a turquoise beanie.
That outfit is a great inspiration for people who enjoy neutral and vibrant colors. And then, under the caption, we see two hashtags. Both of them are the holiday hashtags of Lacoste. So if you click on them, you will arrive at a page with some holiday spirit.
Now, what can we gather from this post?
People would be confused about what color to choose to wear. They would either pick a neutral outfit or a colorful one. But what we see here is the combination of both. That is an answer to a question that utilizes both sides.
Simplicity is another thing that we notice. The photo is taken in front of a white background. That is also great since the whole attention is on whatever Lacoste intended.
The last hint we take is optimism. “There’s no wrong way to play” is what the caption says. We can interpret it in many ways. However, the main message here is that an individual is in charge of their own path.
It becomes obvious at this point that the archetype that Lacoste belongs to is the Innocent.
What do we know about it?
Desire: to experience heaven
Aim: to be delighted
Strategy: do things respectably
These are the messaging levels of the archetype.
Level One: a passion for innocence, excellence, and unsophistication
Level Two: youthful simplicity, trusting, dependent, respectful, trusting, idyllic
Level Three: revival, cheerful, reinventing, reframing, purifying, reentering the Promised Land
Level Four: an almost supernatural sense of oneness, whereby Innocence comes from worths and integrity, not outer experience, being, not doing
The Innocent archetype provides a good identity for brands that:
• deliver a fairly straightforward solution to an identifiable issue
• are associated with integrity, decency, clarity, nostalgia, or youth
• have positions associated with cleanliness, health, or virtue-and that are incredibly replicable
• are priced average to low
• are made by a company with straight-arrow core values
• desire to distinguish from a product with a degraded picture
Next up, we are going to take a look at the SWOT analysis of Lacoste.
Strengths
Wide distribution channel: You can find Lacoste stores in more than 120 countries over the world. To add up, the company collectively employs about 1000 workers at the moment.
Strong reputation: The fact alone that Lacoste was established in France gives it a lot of recognition. But then, because the company has been brilliant in its marketing choices throughout time, its brand image looks amazing. The overall fashion industry takes pride in Lacoste.
Accessible prices: Technically, we can call Lacoste a premium brand. However, most brands in that segment have ridiculously high prices. Lacoste’s pricing is set in a way that most people can afford it.
Sports consumers: People or companies that are fond of sports also adore Lacoste. They are very likely to make a purchase or two that will help contribute to their passion.
Wide product range: Not only does this company have diverse products in various categories, but it also has many classifications. We can see purses, wallets, fragrances, and footwear among those.
Socially reliable brand: Lacoste uses a good amount of its revenue to support different foundations. For example, this company supports associations in the Philippines to save the demise of crocodiles.
Simple but practical clothing: For everyday use, people prefer netural attire. For instance, a polo shirt is a classic for a lot of guys. Lacoste offers lots of these shirts in numerous colors.
Weaknesses
Generic products: Some people make and sell almost identical products to Lacoste items. The only difference is that they are cheaper. So, lots of people are more likely to purchase generic items than the original ones.
Alleged environmental issues: This brand has been allegedly caught to have used harmful items in its products. Those add to the company’s ‘dirty laundry’ that is going to follow it for a while. For example, Lacoste has apparently used hormone-affecting ingredients in some of its t-shirts.
Opportunities
Increasing demand in the Asia-Pacific region: Lacoste is gaining more and more recognition in Asian countries every day. Primarily focusing on opening up more stores in those areas could be an incredible move to the growth of Lacoste.
The global request for sustainable clothing: People are becoming more environmentally friendly, therefore utilizing sustainable products. This is an awesome opportunity for Lacoste since it employs natural cotton fiber for all of its apparel.
Demand for activewear in Australia: This region is taking upon introducing more activewear. Investing in more stores here is the way to go for Lacoste.
Threats
Increasing intense competition: Different lifestyle brands such as Zara, H&M, Nike, and Adidas are growing alongside Lacoste. Those companies are also using all their power to overcome competition, so developing becomes extra harder for each of them.
Lost market share: Because of the previous point that we mentioned, Lacoste has lost a great deal of its market share to competitors. In the long run, if that increases, the company will face a huge threat.
Lastly, we are going to unravel the segment that Lacoste has chosen to target.
This video is advertising the ‘Match Point’ fragrance of Lacoste. It would be safe to say that this is a representation of a love story. We see this couple’s incredible dance moves over a bridge. Pretty risky, isn’t it? It ends as the bridge separates, but they still run to each other because love wins after all.
The first but not so obvious hint that we gather is the presence of an urban area. The video could be shot anywhere else, but the city is where they filmed it.
The second hint is the tendency of adventure. Despite all risks that they may get run over by a car, for instance, these characters are having fun.
The last hint is the high sense of fashion. Both the guy and the woman are dressed up to date, making them look pretty attractive.
What we can guess by now, is that the segment that Lacoste has chosen to target is Chardonnays.
Lifestyle and values:
The most important thing worth mentioning is that Chardonnays are highly optimistic. They adore spending some good quality time with their friends and loved ones. This segment also loves taking risks as long as they are having fun.
People surrounding Chardonnays sometimes think that this segment’s optimism is too much, pretty equal to naiveness.
Chardonnays value their attractiveness. They have to do everything in their effort to look great, especially to the opposite sex. Chardonnays are the people that look effortlessly stunning. However, behind the scenes, you know that they spent a lot of effort on it.
This segment is pretty sociable and receives energy from being around other people. They enjoy visiting various places with people they can have fun with.
Chardonnays are believers of some sort of higher power out there.
This segment loves learning about foreign cultures. Thus, they also have friends from other countries because they can learn a lot from those people.
Chardonnays have to know about every news or trend that happens in the world. This makes them the original one in their friend group.
This segment mostly likes living in the city. They can enjoy going to town as well but only for a day or two.
While pursuing a career, Chardonnays make sure that they get a job that reflects their personality well. Because they love communicating, their job usually involves talking to a lot of people.
Chardonnays strive for a great career, and it usually turns into reality. Sometimes they are unwilling to take the extra mile, however. Also, because they are so careless with the way they spend their money, sometimes they simply run out of it.
Chardonnays are indifferent when it comes to politics. However, for example, animal rights are one of this segment’s main areas of concern.
This segment enjoys being in nature but only for aesthetic purposes, rather than health-concerning.
Chardonnays needs a break here and there after leading an active social life. That is where family comes into the picture. Chardonnays love setting family traditions that they can always go back to.
Chardonnays search for a perfect partner that is ideally very similar to them. Sometimes this approach leaves them disappointed. However, when they find someone they like, their relationship will be long-lasting. If they ever struggle, it is due to Chardonnay’s intense emotions.
Attitude towards shopping:
As Chardonnays put a lot of time and effort into their looks, they also spend some money on it. They always make sure to follow fresh trends. With the overpowering amount of time, this segment buys whatever it is that they want. Even if that item seems to be expensive, Chardonnays will make sure to save some money ahead of time.
The products that Chardonnays own have to be of excellent quality. That is mostly why they spend lots of money when shopping. Chardonnays love buying from luxury brands. But they standards when it comes to premium brands as well. For example, you will never see them wearing a shirt with a giant brand logo on it.
If you are targeting a Chardonnay with your ad, you have to come up with a unique idea. The advertisement has to hold a meaningful message in it for Chardonnays to even think about buying your product.
Chardonnays hate mainstream and superficial ads. They instead favor attention-grabbing and entertaining ads.
And there you have the ‘Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Lacoste’. We made sure to cover the marketing tactics of this brand in more depth. People that are trying to establish brands take notes! And others that enjoyed reading this blog simply for fun check out our main website. We frequently come up with awesome content, so you will surely find a blog or two that fits your interests.
